Arthur Jones puts orange ahead of green as leader of Syracuse University football team

Frank Ordoñez /The Post-StandardArthur Jones put his NFL dream on hold to return to the Syracuse University football team and star at nose tackle.

Syracuse, NY -- He has a smile that can brighten a room but a mean streak that can darken the day of any offensive lineman who tries to block him. His pockets may be empty, but his heart is full of love for all things Orange.

Meet Arthur Jones, the 293-pound teddy bear who turned down millions of NFL dollars to return to Syracuse University and play nose tackle for new head coach Doug Marrone. Jones’ dream of leading the Orange to a bowl game may be slipping away, but the captain harbors no second thoughts about enlisting in Marrone’s cause.

"No regrets at all. None at all," Jones said as SU (3-5, 0-3 Big East) prepared to face No. 14 Pittsburgh (7-1, 4-0) at noon Saturday at Heinz Field. "If I could do it all over again I would so the same exact thing. It’s been a great learning experience for me, just growing as a man with Coach Marrone and Coach Shafer (defensive coordinator Scott Shafer), just learning so much more than I had learned before. It’s been fun, you know. Being a team captain has been fantastic. I’m enjoying it."

The smile never leaves Jones’ face, whether he is asked about the joy and taking on double teams, injuries, the suspension of teammates, the Orange’s struggles on the field . . . whatever. It appears to be a permanent fixture, at least off the field. Those who know Jones best say the expression changes once the whistle blows.

"He’s versed in the psychological game," said guard/center Ryan Bartholomew, who has seen his share of Jones in practice. "That’s my take on it. He’ll pat you on the back and then kick your (butt)."

"Everyone says when he walks into a room he brightens up the whole room, and they call him a big teddy bear," said Chandler Jones, Arthur’s younger brother and a starting defensive end on the Orange. "But when he buckles up those chin straps I feel he is a different person. He doesn’t talk much, but when he’s on the field you can see the anger that comes out. It’s two different personalities on and off the field."

The notion of the teddy bear turning into a grizzly bear is nearly impossible to fathom. Chandler Jones senses the disbelief and again takes the witness stand.

"You see him on campus and he’s always smiling and giving people high-fives and hugs and dancing around," he said, "but when he gets on that field, I’m telling you he’s a whole different breed."

A special breed, who will enter the Pitt game with 38.5 tackles for a loss in his career, third on SU’s top-10 list and first among interior linemen. And a throwback breed, who in this age of athletes who regularly depart school early for the greener grass of professional greenbacks decided to return for his senior season even though he was projected as a late-second to early third round NFL draft pick following last season. Even more remarkably, he made the decision knowing he would be playing for a new coaching staff in a new defensive system. It had to be a tough call, no?

"Not really," said Jones, 23, an Endicott native whose father is a pastor. "The way I was raised, in my family money isn’t anything. It’s nothing to me. My family, what we got is what we got, you know? Money isn’t a big issue to me. It’s all about having fun and family and tradition . . . stuff like that. A lot of people were like, ‘You’re crazy for passing up this opportunity,’ but I see it as God has a plan for me. It’s going to be there. If it’s for me, it’s for me."

SU defensive line coach Derrick Jackson, a holdover from Greg Robinson’s staff, has been enjoying that refreshing breath of fresh air for several years now. He never grows tired of it.

"I’ve seen Arthur come full circle, from making eight tackles as a redshirt freshman to a guy who really developed into an NFL prospect," Jackson said. "I’ve watched him grow into a man and a leader of the football team. He loves the community, loves Syracuse University. He’s always beaming about the program, his teammates. He embodies all the things that are so great about college athletics."

Jones has done it while having a solid but not great senior season, the product of these factors:

Shortly after deciding to return, he tore a pectoral muscle while lifting weights and missed spring ball following surgery to correct it.

"The toughest part for him was missing time in the new scheme," Jackson said, "and then building the confidence back that you are 100 percent."

Jones was no sooner feeling comfortable again when he suffered a hamstring injury that nagged him for the better part of three games.

"I’m healthy now," he said. "I’m 100 percent ready for these last four games."

SU foes, seeing Jones’ all-conference credentials and witnessing what he did to Notre Dame last season when the Irish tried to block him with a single lineman – 15 tackles, including four for a loss – are now making him the prime target of their game plans.

"There have been a lot of double teams and people coming in trying to make a name for themselves as they play against Arthur," Marrone said. "That's a challenge for any good player, and he's done very well."

Perhaps most significant, though, has been the presence of a much improved surrounding cast this season.

"We’re a better defensive football team than we’ve been in the past," Jackson said. "Look at the production of the people around him like (middle linebacker) Derrell Smith. You see a lot more guys involved. That lessens the opportunities for Arthur."

The sum of those parts is a 19-tackle season, although Jones still ranks second to Smith on the team with 7.0 tackles for a loss.

"The linebackers get all the tackles, the interceptions, the tackles for a loss," Chandler Jones said, "but what people don’t see is (Arthur) holding up blocks. He holds up blocks so those guys can get free, and sometimes he’ll hold up a block and slip through and make a tackle himself. That’s what he’s good at doing."

Arthur Jones admitted that all the attention foes have been giving him bothered him at first.

"But right now I’m at peace with it," he said. "If I’m not making the play it’s not that big a deal, because someone else is making the play. When I’m eating those double-teams it’s like I’m making the play, too, and I’m celebrating just like they’re celebrating. I’m excited for their success."

Mostly, Jones is excited about the next four games. He still believes Syracuse will play in a bowl game this season. And he is excited about the future of the program beyond his final game in orange.

"This program is going in the right direction," he said. "It’s definitely a great new attitude. It’s unbelievable how the guys accepted the new coaching staff this fast and got this thing rolling. When I come back here next year and watch them destroy teams, I’m going to be happy I was part of turning it around."

That happiness, Jones said, will make his detour to NFL riches worth the wait.

"I would have been happy with the money and things like that," he said, "but there still would have been that ‘What if,’ you know? What if I would have played with my little brother, what if I could have been a part of this new coaching staff and everything it is going to achieve. I’m happy I stayed."